In one of the most distinct monthly shifts of the year, the arrival of October immediately signals a change in tone. Somehow, the rustling of the leaves on the trees sounds like whispered secrets, once-innocuous shadows seem to watch and follow you, and the crisp autumn breeze carries within it an air of mystery that wasn’t there before. It’s hard to define what’s happening, but one thing’s for sure — spooky season is here. Watch your back.

So if you’re struggling to crack the case of what to watch this weekend, let that dilemma be its own solution: It’s mystery time. Luckily, there’s a wide selection of movies and shows that will make for killer murder-mystery viewing. Consider the suspects: There’s a gothic period piece, a tense true crime history, or a whole mini-marathon of murder mysteries with a sense of humor. Now put your detective hat on and get sleuthing!

But first, what’s new on Netflix?

A very long day. Oscar-winner Cillian Murphy stars in Tim Mielants’ new drama Steve, an adaptation of Max Porter’s 2023 novel Shy that premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last month. The film portrays one intense day in the life of the title character (Murphy), the headmaster of a reform school for troubled boys in England in the ’90s. Don’t want to go back to school? Try returning to the pods. Love Is Blind is back with Season 9, which takes the social experiment to Denver, where 32 hopeful singles will see if they can forge lasting connections before physical attraction. Not seeing it? Look another Monster in the eye: The third installment in Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan’s anthology series, Monster: The Ed Gein Story, is here and ready to horrify you. Charlie Hunnam stars as Ed Gein, a serial killer and grave robber from the 1950s who inspired many classic horror films. 

If you have just a night … 

Try not to blink. In Scott Cooper’s eerie gothic mystery The Pale Blue Eye (2022), based on the 2006 novel by Louis Bayard, an aloof detective (Christian Bale) tries to solve a string of grisly murders at West Point in the early 19th century. As his investigation intensifies, he accepts the help of an eccentric cadet at the academy, a young Edgar Allan Poe (Harry Melling). Together, the unlikely pair chase the clues to a shocking conclusion. 

If you have a whole day … 

Play for keeps. A real-life mystery unfolds in chilling detail over seven episodes in Ryan White’s 2017 docuseries The Keepers. The show chronicles the haunting history of the 1969 murder of nun Catherine Cesnik, a beloved teacher at an all-girls Catholic school in Baltimore. Through dozens of interviews, including those with several of Sister Cathy’s former students, the series pieces together the tale of a brutal crime, its painful aftermath, and the theories that have abounded in the decades since, as this mystery has remained unsolved.  

If you have the entire weekend … 

Lighten the mood. It’s just murder, after all — no need to be gloomy about it! You can call up a whole selection of murder mysteries that find comedy in the well-worn genre while also upping the suspense at every turn. Check in with master detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), of Rian Johnson’s star-studded Knives Out franchise, by queuing up 2022’s Glass Onion, which sees a billionaire’s party game turn deadly. (And add Blanc’s upcoming third case, Wake Up Dead Man, to your to-watch list ahead of its December release.) Pair him with another eccentric investigator, this time Uzo Aduba’s detective Cordelia Cupp, tasked with solving a murder in the White House in Paul William Davies’ 2025 series The Residence.

Now let the amateurs take over — but underestimate them at your peril. The septuagenarian sleuths of The Thursday Murder Club, Chris Columbus’ 2025 adaptation of Richard Osman’s 2020 bestselling novel, look into a suspicious death at their retirement village; the clever quartet is played by Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley, and Celia Imrie. Follow them with the A-list comedy duo of Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston, who play a married couple that becomes unwittingly embroiled in a Murder Mystery while on vacation in Kyle Newacheck’s 2019 comedy — and then get roped into another, this time while attending a wedding, in Jeremy Garelick’s 2023 sequel Murder Mystery 2. 

Don’t forget, you have one last chance … 

To be the last one standing. The 2015 indie sci-fi thriller Circle, directed by Aaron Hann and Mario Miscione, sees 50 strangers wake up trapped in a room, and then get systematically killed one by one. When they realize that they have the power to choose who among them will be executed next, they try to decide among themselves who deserves to live. In two weeks, it will be the movie’s turn to go.